Adapting SERRAS DO PORTO to Climate Change

Serras do Porto Park is since 2017 a Regional Protected Landscape. With about 6.000 ha on the municipalities of Gondomar, Paredes and Valongo, it is the closest natural area to Oporto, also embracing a Natura 2000 site. With unique natural and geological heritage elements, the Park is since 2016 managed by AMPSP, which gathers the 3 municipalities on the common aim of ensuring its conservation, improved provisioning of ecosystem services and increased sustainable use/management.
To ensure its aims, a wide range of climate adaptation and ecosystem restoration needs have been identified by the Local Strategies for Climate Adaptation of each municipality and, more recently, by the Park Management Plan.
The proposed project builds on pilot efforts already undertaken by AMPSP on diversification of forestry, (re)naturalization of riparian areas, control of Invasive Alien Species and other adaptation works needed to counteract projected risks and impacts of climate change (including those of droughts, storms, and extreme wildfires, and other foreseeable extreme weather events).
Following a participated framework for action that accounts for improving local/regional climatic governance, the project proposes, for the first time, a concerted work among key public and private stakeholders who own/manage parcels of the Park’s land towards increasing resilience of forest and agricultural areas to impacts foreseen with climate change.
To ensure such aim, and having for basis the referred vulnerability assessments and adaptation strategies, the project embraces, as main operational objectives:
• adaptation of forest land in about 423 ha, through various management and sylvicultural practices accounting for climate shifts and increased provisioning of services (e.g. by acting on forest composition diversity and structure, while also controlling invasive alien species and using naturebased solutions to retain water and improve soil moisture);
The main objective of the LIFE SERRAS DO PORTO project is to make the Park Serras do Porto more resilient to the impacts of climate change. The aim is to diversify forest land, through forest composition, tree species diversity, structure and management, including the use of native species that were once common. Furthermore, to complement and leverage its work, the project team will conduct other ecosystem-based restoration and diversification measures, together with nature-based solutions directed at water retention, soil improvement and erosion control. The project will:Decrease the presence of invasive alien species, and the amount of land with no active management. Increase forest diversity, thereby enhancing the adaptation of forest to climate change. Promote a more sustainable agriculture.Engage civil society in project actions. Act as a catalyst for analogous land management solutions. Expected results: Adaptation of forest land on 423 ha, including (re)naturalisation of monocultural Eucalyptus plantings on about 195 ha. Adaptation of forest parcels within riparian areas, embracing about 40 ha. Active control of invasive alien species (mainly Acacia sp. and Hakea sericea), including 67 ha of initial controls. Adaptation of agricultural land on 12 ha. Improved conditions for at least 3 protected species suffering from habitat degradation, as a result of ecosystem and nature-based river restoration work. Increased awareness of local population to the project's objective. Reduction in the number of people vulnerable to climate change (284 576 inhabitants in/around the Park).